Paula McLain, author of the NYT bestseller The Paris Wife, talks about Skylark (her newest book) and her favorite Paris haunts.

Many of us have read and enjoyed The Paris Wife, a fictionalized account of Ernest Hemingway’s marriage to the first of his four wives, Hadley Richardson. It was a New York Times bestseller. Now, Paula has written Skylark, another Paris-based book—two parallel stories, one taking place in 1664 and the other in 1940s Nazi-occupied Paris. It is an uplifting book about the strength and resistance of the human spirit—and a page-turner and a really good read. It is Good Morning America’s Book Club pick for January 2026.

More about Paula McLain: paulamclain.com

Some of Paula’s favorite spots in Paris:

• The Closerie des Lilas where Hemingway often wrote. Amazing profiteroles, and one of the best gin and tonics I’ve ever had.
• Musee de Cluny “I’m obsessed with the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries and the Roman-Gallo baths.”
• Jardin du Luxembourg
• Sainte-Geneviève Library “Amazing history, and incredibly beautiful. Right near the Pantheon and not far from the Wall of Philip Phillip II Augustus.”

A bit more about the geology and history of the Paris Catacombs

A bit more about the Gobelins Manufactory

A bit more about the the River Bièvre